A flawless performance by Adelina Sotnikova has won Russia a largely unexpected gold in the women’s individual figure skating event. Sotnikova’s victory made her the first female Russian skater to receive Olympic gold in this category.

The 17-year-old Sotnikova came second after the short program but
scored a total of 224.59 after the free skate.

Sotnikova is the second Russian skater to receive a score over
200 in the ladies' figure skating singles.

Apart from winning gold at such a young age, Sotnikova has
already become a two-time European silver medalist, a five-time
medalist of the Grand Prix series, and a four-time Russian
national champion.

The figure skater was born in Moscow, Russia and began skating at
the age of four. Her first senior debut was at the 2009 Russian
Nationals, where she won the gold medal at the age of 12.

More recently, Sotnikova impressed Russia with her talent after
winning her fourth national title in 2014, placing first in the
short program, second in the free skate, and beating 15-year-old
Russian athlete Yulia Lipnitskaya.

Russia’s 15-year-old prodigy Yulia Lipnitskaya, who earlier won
gold in team figure skating, failed to repeat her success; she
fell in both the short program and the free skate, receiving
penalty points. Lipnitskaya ended up in fifth place.

However, Russian figure skating legend Evgeny Plushenko cheered
on Lipnitskaya, saying that she has a lot of victories ahead and
that she is still an Olympic champion. Lipnitskaya’s stunning
performance at the Games made her the youngest Russian athlete to
win a medal in Winter Olympics history.

For Plushenko, the Sochi 2014 Games were not a complete success
either. Having earned a gold medal at the team event, he had to
withdraw from the individual skating competition after injuring
his back during a warm-up.

Plushenko tweeted Sotnikova “Bravo!,” congratulating her
on her success and reminding that she is the first Russian figure
skater to become an Olympic champion in women’s individual
skating.

The most decorated figure skater in Olympic history, Plushenko
had to undergo 12 operations during his sporting career –
including one major surgery on his spine just one year ago which
backfired, forcing him to retire from professional sport at the
age of 31.